Disclaimer: ABC owns all.

Summary: Helping Cole get through withdrawal causes Schuyler to remember his own past.

Author's Notes: Since this is my first fanfic in years, I'm a bit rusty. I noticed some mistakes in the first chapter that bothered me; mainly, formatting. I'll try to make this chapter sections, instead of one big block. Also, my editing was sub par. Starr's text was missing the "at" symbol and I kept going from "text-speak" to full words. Sorry. I don't use text speak, even in texts.

Also, Nora was missing a line in the flashback. It should have read, "Feeling sorry, Cole? I'd like to see you act on it. My family might finally get some peace."

And finally, I thought I made a sloppy transition from the hallucination "Schuyler" to the actual one. There was supposed to be a paragraph there. Sorry for the long A/N, but those imperfections were bothering me.

Alright, onward with our story…

*~*~*~*~*

What Happens in Vegas…

Chapter 2

As Schuyler fiddled with his keys, trying to find the right one for the room, Cole leaned against the doorframe. He had his head buried in the crook of his arm and was groaning softly.

"Can you hurry up?"

Schuyler found the correct key and stuck it in the lock, but paused for a moment, thinking. Cole's condition was deteriorating rapidly, and if Schuyler stuck to his plan, it might end up pushing the teen back into hallucination land.

But, he reasoned, the kid was going to end up back there one way or another, and at least Schuyler knew how to handle the situation.

Calmly, he pushed open the door, the sound causing Cole to pick his head up. Bleary-eyed, he gazed at Schuyler, "Need…needa call St…Starr,"

"Phone's in the room, man" Schuyler gestured for the teen to enter. Cole complied by stumbling over the threshold and promptly tripping over the table, which caused him to land awkwardly against the couch.

The teacher winced, remembering when his own body wouldn't cooperate; luckily, the withdrawal had taken thoughts of any other pain away. It seemed the same way for Cole, who groaning, was now attempting to right himself, even as he slid off the couch and onto the floor. "Joplin? Joplin, phone…gimme the damn phone," the boy hissed, "Where…fuck's th' phone?"

Schuyler was still in the doorway, watching this scene unfold. He needed to make his next move quickly, but calmly, as Cole was obviously on the verge of losing it again. Taking a step into the room, the man nodded at the back of the room, "In the back, around the wall." As he motioned at the divider between the living area and bedroom, Cole let out a loud groan and flopped away from the couch, literally starting to crawl towards his goal.

As soon as the teen had his back turned, Schuyler fully entered the room and shut the door behind him. Swiftly, he slammed the main lock home and added the chain. As a final precaution, he stuck a key into his newest, as-of-yet used lock (the one he added himself after Manning had paid him a visit).

With a sigh he slipped the keys into his pocket and turned in time to see Cole on his feet and lunging at him. Schuyler sidestepped and the boy ran into the door (afterwards, Schuyler felt awful about this, but he was no longer a fighter, and had given into his instincts when seeing anyone come at him).

"Goddamit Joplin!" Cole cursed, grabbing the unforgiving knob and yanking, "You fucking liar! Lemme out!" The teen then began banging on the door with both fists.

Schuyler knew that in his present state Cole would be unable to escape and was also unconcerned about the racket the boy was making. After all, a murder had gone on here undetected! Better to let Cole scream his lungs out here then a mansion.

A thought came to Schuyler and he crossed to the window to shut and lock it. Like at Starr's, if Cole's mind told him to jump again, Schuyler would probably be able to once again pull him back, but it was a close call last time.

Cole had now turned from the door and was focusing his aggression on objects around the room. Schuyler understood and just watched. He wasn't too worried about his things, even as Cole attacked the dresser and began to rip the dresser drawers open and fling the contents about.

Suddenly Cole froze. Schuyler did too, when he saw what the boy had in his grip. Shit. I forgot about that.

The teacher stepped forward, in an attempt to take Starr's letter from Cole, but the teen reacted quicker and backed away, obviously scanning the document as he did, "Schuyler…wait for me…"

Cole paused there and Schuyler snatched the paper away, crumpling it into his pocket, to be discarded later.

But the damage had been done. "WAIT FOR ME!?" Cole roared, his eyes flashing somehow, despite being glazed over due to his drug use, "Is this why you locked me up Joplin? To rub that fact that you're sleazing all over Starr IN MY FACE?"

Schuyler put his hands up and spoke softly, "That letter was from before, Cole-"

"Before WHAT? Before you had SEX?"

"Before you started cleaning up. Starr doesn't want me Cole, she never really did! You used drugs to cope with your baby's death? Well, Starr used…me."

*~*~*~*~*

Cole was breathing heavily. Joplin's voice was slipping back into that mocking tone, "Starr used me Cole. And I let her. And I liked it."

The teen grabbed his hair in his fists and curled into himself, shaking his head from side to side. At this point, Schuyler's phone rang. Seeing Starr's number on the screen, he picked up cautiously, half expecting Todd on the other end, testing him, "Hello? Starr?"

Cole looked up at this, appearing to listen to Schuyler's end of the conversation, "You're not at your dad's anymore? No, we left your house. Yeah, he's with me…"

Glancing at Cole, the teacher hesitated. Starr asked where they were; she wanted to see Cole, but assessing the boy's current state, Schuyler thought that that was a bad idea.

"He's fine, Starr. I'm taking care of him, alright? Just stay there and wait for my call." Cole whimpered quietly, "Starr, I love you."

Schuyler nodded, and a quiet smile appeared for a minute, "He said the same about you. Right. 'Bye."

*~*~*~*~*

Cole sunk to his knees at Joplin's feet. A piercing ring cut the air. Joplin looked at the screen and answered the cell phone, "Hello? Starr? I missed you sweetheart. We left your house; yeah, I took IT with me." Joplin glanced down at Cole, a look of mocking disdain on his face, "He's fine right now, hon. Don't worry, I'll take care of it, alright? Just wait for my call. I know you will."

"Starr," Cole choked out, "I love you."

Joplin nodded, and his shit-eating grin grew, "He said the same thing you just said to me, about you. I know, right? 'Bye, darlin'"

*~*~*~*~*

Schuyler put the phone aside and crotched next to Cole. Gently, he touched the boy's shoulder, not surprised by the violent flinch in response. Schuyler spoke quietly, knowing the teen must have started hallucinating again. Bringing up Starr with Cole when Schuyler was around seemed to be the catalyst. Schuyler remembered how much he'd clung to Stacy when he was sick.

Suddenly, Cole leapt to his feet and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. In his state, he had forgotten to the door, Schuyler noticed, but it didn't matter either way.

The man rose and went to the door, just listening, giving the boy space. He heard Cole rifling through the shelves and medicine cabinet. He sighed, knowing what the teen was doing; "There's nothing in there that you want Cole,"

The door swung open immediately, and Schuyler met Cole's glaring, bloodshot eyes with his own.

"Sorry man, ex-addict. I don't even drink,"

With a huff, Cole slammed the door again. There was quiet for a moment and Schuyler's brain raced. While there was nothing in the bathroom for a withdrawing addict to "score" off of, there was plenty of things that a depressed, hallucinating, withdrawing addict could try to harm himself with.

Thankfully, however, as Schuyler opened the door, he was greeting by Cole on his knees at the toilet, purging the toxins from his body. The teacher reached over and filled a clean cup with water, placing it on the floor near the teen.

Schuyler himself took a seat on the ledge of the tub, as Cole finished up, flushing and wiping his mouth. He took some water and slumped against the side of tub, moaning, "Is it almost over?"

No, thought Schuyler. Aloud, he said, "You're doing fine, buddy," and padded the boy on his shoulder.

Cole looked at him hazily, "Right now, I can't remember why the fuck I started using this crap."

Schuyler just chuckled and gazed at his feet.

The teen nudged him, "What about you?"

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: Vegas, baby, Vegasss! Next chapter…